TW: Panic Attack, drowning, Near-death experiences, blood and gore (Not too detailed), limb amputation and mutilation

Mumbo Pov.

Would you still love me if I was a worm?

That's the question that Grian had started off with about a month ago when we were playing a game of "Who-can-say-the-strangest-thing." Of course, I giggled and decided that this was a fun bit. So naturally, I went along with it and picked an animal at random: a rabbit.

Would you still love me if I was a rabbit?

Looking back on it now, I still can't quite tell what had triggered it. As soon as the phrase left my mouth, Grian looked at me with some emotion in his eyes, and I couldn't quite place it. Fear? Exhaustion? Whatever it was, it gave me a feeling of uneasiness- like something was wrong in the world.

Why do I bring this up, you may ask? Well, that's because I am getting that exact feeling right this very second. Grian was supposed to meet me here at my base at least thirty minutes ago. Yes, Grian may be an irresponsible little gremlin, but if he had any idea in his head that he would disappoint somebody or let them down, he would do everything in his power to fix it.

Looking at the stormy, cloudy sky, I can't help but notice that feeling building up. Something isn't right, and I'm not sure if it's my gut telling me this, or maybe subconscious context clues. Maybe a bit of both.

Then it thunders.

My deep brown eyes blink before widening. That- that's not good. People were usually concerned about Grian and the rain even when they knew he was safely inside- therefore this situation sent shivers down my spine and a jolt of fear through my body.

Then I get the message.

Glancing down at my communicator, not quite paying attention, I can feel my throat closing up the moment that I see it.

Grian: Guus its storning out snd im lost. Whay do I do??????????

No, no no no no. That's bad. That's really, really bad.

I can feel tears spring into my eyes already as I start to glance around frantically. Seriously, how the heck did Grian even get lost?! Last time I checked, he was over at Scar's- Which is quite literally RIGHT OVER THERE!!!

Another ping pops through my communicator, and I am desperately hoping for a message that says Grian is safe from the storm. Instead, I find a worried message from a certain train conductor.

Scar: Grian??? Send us your coords rn and we will get to you as soon as we can.

Followed by another-

Scar: Mumbo meet me at G's base.

I sigh and subconsciously shake my head. How is Scar so calm right now? One of his best friends is in a great deal of danger, and there isn't even one type-O? The man can't even spell when he's relaxed and having a great day, and suddenly he can spell? I swear, I could go on a tangent about this ma-

Wait, that's not the focus. What was again?

Oh, right. Grian is in trouble.

Curse my ADHD brain.

I immediately grab my rockets and shoot off towards Grian's base as quickly as I possibly can. My communicator is going off like crazy, and I can only imagine the other hermits losing their minds at the news. I can only pray that one of those messages is Grian with the coords.

I am quickly approaching Grian's dock, and I can see Scar pacing at the edge of the water quickly and seemingly anxiously. I can understand why. "Scar!" I shout out. He looks up at me as I land down quickly beside him, and I suddenly spot his teary eyes. "So, what's the plan?"

Scar looks around anxiously, blinking furiously, before checking his communicator. The way that he looks at it, it appears that he's been repeating that action the entire time that I was flying here. He is quick to respond, saying "Okay, he's just sent the coordin- oh god."

My teeth clench as he says that, and I respond by screeching out "What is it Scar?" I look down at my communicator but can't see his message. He must have done it private. Scar looks up at me and I can see that his eyes are no longer teary, but now he's crying. "Scar I need you to tell me right now. What happened?"

"He... he's right next to an ocean-" Scar says, his voice reeking in fear. I can feel my heart drop and shatter, and that feeling comes back again.

Would you still love me if I can't save you?

Without consulting, we both immediately shoot up into the sky, and I follow Scar's movements to show me where our favorite parrot is. I know that my mind shouldn't do this, but I can't help but imagine a world without Grian in it. The day would start normally, however instead of a loud bird screech waking me up, it would be the sun. When working on my base, there would be silence rather than a pesky bird dropping by to rant about his exciting new plans. There would be no fun sleepovers, no chaotic pranks, no silly permit office, no unorganized chest monster, no unplanned damage to bases.

There would be no Grian.

Would you still love me if I went on without you?

Suddenly Scar stops, ripping me out of my negative, spiraling thoughts. Then I realize that it's raining very heavy. Please, please be okay. The wind is tossing us around so hard that we both barely land down on a small peninsula and look around- however there is no Grian to be seen. Scar looks back down at the communicator in confusion and wipes the water out of his eyes. "He... he said that he'd be right here." We quickly scan the small area, hoping and praying for any sign that our best friend is alive.

Then I watch as something catches Scar's eye. I turn around to whoever he is looking at and my eyes widen. It's Grian's communicator... laying quite a few feet into the water. I turn back to Scar, not expecting what I see. He has a look of... determination. I, however, am well aware that I look like a depressed frog. "C'mon!" Scar shouts, immediately shooting up into the cloudy, storming sky over the ocean.

Would you still love me if I froze up and didn't take charge?

__________________________________________________

Grian POV.

It is cold. That may seem obvious in the middle of a storm, above the deep raging ocean, drenching wet, but my body appears to be in shock.

I had always considered myself a careful person. On the surface, I'm called chaotic and dangerous, but if there is any chance that things won't be okay in the end, I shut it down. After everything that I went through in Yandere and EVO and the Watchers, I've always told myself that I would never subject myself that level of pain ever again. So...

How in the world did this happen?

Looking around, I can't help but let out a loud sob. My wings are getting heavier and heavier, and each wing beat takes just a little bit longer than the former, lowering me just slightly every time. I had gotten swept off that small area of land once the storm got really bad, and I couldn't just give up, so I let my wings out. I'm praying that they don't give up on me now. I just want Scar and Mumbo- of course, I don't even know if they got the coords since my communicator dropped, especially since now I'm over the ocean.

Thunder books above me and I look up quickly out of pure fear. I just want to go home; I want to go home-

"GRIAN!!" I hear a voice shout in the far, far distance, I turn around but find it extremely difficult due to the excess water in my wings. I don't even get a chance to see who it is before I start falling, and I don't even try to save myself. It hurts too much, and I'm done. I feel my body hit the ocean below me and hear two loud shouts of pain and desperation from above.

Would you still love me if I gave up?

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Scar POV.

"NO!" I shout out in horrible desperation. Grian just... he just fell- oh, why didn't he- why didn't he at least try to, dear god- why does he, no, w-where did he-

Mumbo grabs one of my shoulders and immediately starts to drag me down with him to the large splash of Grian's body hitting the water. I may have been acting like the hero before (I know, my acting skills are impeccable) but Mumbo really begins to take charge. We both start to dive down , however the wind is not in our favor. Get to Grian, get to Grian-

I don't even initially realize when Mumbo and I enter the water with a large splash, I'm so scared. What would I even do without a Grian in my life? Oh god, and I've never even confessed and told him how much I love him, and I'll never know if he feels, or in this case felt the same!

I open my eyes under the water and find Mumbo. He appears to be looking around the dark waters frantically, before spotting something quite a bit below us. It has dirty blonde hair, beautiful parrot wings, and a red jumper.

Grian.

We both start to swim lower and lower toward him, trying our hardest to get to him before it's too late. Soon enough, we both grab a hold of one arm. I watch as Mumbo starts to pull him upwards, but then he looks at me with an expression that I can't quite place. Guilt?

I try to pull up Grian quickly, but then I realize exactly what happened with Mumbo. He's too heavy. My heart starts to speed up way faster than before as I realize the problem. His wings have been fully submerged, and because of the rain, there's probably no air bubbles at all- not to mention the intense water pressure above us. Mumbo and I meet eyes, and my chest begins to burn. We are going to have to let him go soon or die trying. I can tell that Mumbo feels the exact same conflict in his head, and I can't tell if he's crying or not with the water. In fact, I can't tell if I'm crying or not. All that I can feel is a pain, something far worse than anything physical in the entire world. Just looking at Grian's face and knowing that I may never see it again-

I feel a hand on my shoulder, and I jump. I must have been blacking out- oh god I'm about to run out of air. How many minutes had it been? I look up as Mumbo looks at me with determination, and I watch in horror as he pulls out a sword and hands me a dagger. I'm confused for a moment- what is he doing? Then it hits me, and I let out a sob.

Grian's wings are the only thing weighing him and us down. Without them, Grian doesn't weigh that much at all, and we could easily lift him up to safety. But at what cost...? Without his wings, would Grian even want to live anymore? I don't really have any time to ponder this before I look up and watch as Mumbo begins to saw on the unconscious Grian's wings.

Oh dear god-

Blood immediately starts to flow up, and I watch as Mumbo tries his hardest not to gag. I realize that if I don't start moving quick, then Grian's going to drown anyways. I take the dagger and start to saw down at the base of our peskybirds wings. It hurt me to do this, but it would hurt me more for him to die. I'm so deep in my own head and sorrow that it shocks me when Grian's weight suddenly lifts upwards. My head snaps down and a jolt of horror goes through my body as I watch one of Grian's beautiful parrot wings sink lower and lower. The entire water is filled with his blood and I feel a snap as the wing that I am sawing on falls down as well. Both Mumbo and I in unspoken agreement start to swim upwards with the now far lighter Grian, leaving a trail of blood behind us. We break to the surface, and the first thing to happen is Mumbo and I's uncontrollable sobs. It's still raining horribly, but that isn't the problem anymore.

Grian is.

Blood is seeping out of his back as a fast rate, which doesn't surprise me considering that this pretty much equals out to losing two arms considering both wings. Considering that I led Mumbo here, I know that I am going to have to be the one to get us back home and I look around. I quickly recognize which direction we need to go in, and we quickly rearrange ourselves in a way to make flying with Grian a little bit more manageable. I end up holding Grians left arm and his waist, while Mumbo takes care of his left side. Grian's back is bleeding out so much that if we don't get to Doc (the only qualified doctor on the server) then he will end up dying despite everything.

We start flying back, and about halfway through the horribly silent flight Grian starts coughing up water. Mumbo and I meet eyes, and both have a really stupid realization- we never actually got the water out of Grian's lungs.

Oh my god, how stupid are we? However, that isn't the main problem. Grian's bleeding out is. Without even realizing it, I start to see Hermitcraft again. "Mumbo, can you hold him?" I say as quickly as I can. We're on a time limit here, people! Mumbo nods frantically and takes the small hermit into his arms. I pull out my communicator quickly and immidiately message Doc.

Scar: Doc! Please meet me at my base, Grian is really hurt.

Doc: omw.

False: Do we need to come too?

Joel: Is he okay?

Xisuma: would admin magic help

Cub: r u and mumbo good

I smile, despite the horrible situation. The hermits really do care for each other.

Before I know it, Grian is being taken into one of the train cars at my base and Doc is trying to patch him up. I don't know how (I can't face being in the same room as that, especially knowing that I was the one who did it) but it's happening. I'm so happy that Grian is safe, but I know deep down that we've just started something that may not have such a happy ending.

Would you still love me if I ruined you?

______________________________________________

Word Count: 2461

Thank goodness that Minecraft doesn't have sharks, am I right guys lmao??

Welp, that's one of the really big chapters done! Let me know how you liked it, and please drop a comment and a follow if you like my writing! Hope you have a wonderful day or night!

-Emmy <3